Thank you to our
generous sponsors
of Comic-Con 2007

And thank you to these companies that have provided prizes for CCI:IFF winners

A LOOK BACK AT COMIC-CON 2007

Beautiful keepsake book is given FREE to each attendee

Cover of the 2006 Comic-Con International: San Diego Sourvenir Book - click to enlarge

click to enlarge

The 30th Anniversary of Star Wars is celebrated Comic-Con style as the cover of the 2007 Comic-Con Souvenir Book cover. Art by Special Guest Adam Hughes, created specially for Comic-Con!

For 38 years, Comic-Con has produced a Souvenir Book that commemorates the event. Over the past few years this book has grown to be a 160-page wonder, chockfull of articles, art, special guests' biographies, and more. Best of all, this attractive trade paperback sized commemorative book is given FREE to all attendees, along with the separate show schedule: the all-important Events Guide.

Each year, Comic-Con solicits articles and artwork from professionals and fans alike, based on the anniversaries and themes we're celebrating (see the list below).

We are no longer accepting submissions and thank all of you who have contributed your work to this year's Souvenir Book!

Milt Caniff signature

• 100th Birthday of Milton Caniff

If you're making a list of the best American comic strip artists of the 20th century, that list would have to include Milton Caniff somewhere near the very top. Caniff was an artist and master storyteller of almost unparalleled skill. In his 54 years with two top strips- Terry and the Pirates from 1934 to 1946 and Steve Canyon from 1947 until his death in 1988-Caniff thrilled newspaper readers on a daily basis.

• 100th Birthday of Hergé

The creator of one the world's most beloved and recognizable comics characters, Tintin (we're awfully fond of his dog, Snowy, ourselves), Hergé was born George Remi in Brussels, Belgium in 1907. His cartooning career began when he was 19, and Tintin sprung forth just three years later, in 1929. Hergé produced 23 separate Tintin books (he was working on the 24th when he died in 1983), filled with adventure, intrigue, thrills and one of the most charming art styles to ever grace a page.

• 100th Birthday of Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein is one of the most influential and popular science fiction writers of all time. The author, whose books include Starship Troopers and Stranger In A Strange Land, died in 1988. In 1977, Heinlein, who suffered from a rare blood disease, appeared at Comic-Con as a guest, under the stipulation that he would sign autographs only for those that donated blood. 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of Comic-Con's Robert A. Heinlein Blood Drive.

• 30th Anniversary
of Star Wars

It's a pop culture phenomenon, a whirlwind of space ships, archetypes and a galaxy far, far away. Star Wars turns 30 this year, and shows no signs of slowing down. Lucasfilm first introduced Star Wars to a Comic-Con audience in 1976. Thirty-one years later, the saga continues.

• 10th Anniversary of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer on TV

She made her first appearance in a movie in 1992, but when Buffy moved to the small screen she captured our heart (without a stake). Joss Whedon's fan-favorite characters may be off TV, but their tale is still being told with Dark Horse's new comics series, which takes up after the show ended.

1982: It was a very good year!

1982 was an incredible year for comics, with a number of long-lasting characters and series being introduced by creators that have lived long past most of their original publishers. We celebrate these Silver anniversaries in 2007:

• 25th Anniversary of Groo

They call him the Wanderer, and that's certainly true when it comes to how many comics companies have published Sergio Aragonés popular barbarian since its debut as a creator-owned series in 1982. From Eclipse to Pacific Comics to Marvel to Image to Dark Horse, Groo, Sergio, Stan Sakai (letterer), Tom Luth (colorist) and Mark Evanier (not even Evanier is sure of what he does with Groo, but he does something), have roamed for 25 years now, and it's a better world because of it.

• 25th Anniversary of Love and Rockets

Arguably (because everyone always wants to argue these things) the book that launched the alternative comics scene, Love and Rockets was first published by Fantagraphics Books in 1982. Los Bros Hernandez, Jaime and Gilbert, tell their own separate stories throughout the run of this series, which ended with #50 in 1996 and restarted five years later. Now collected in over 20 separate volumes, plus other books collecting select L&R stories (Jaime's Locas collection is a staggering 710 pages; Gilbert's Palomar weighs in at 512), Los Bros Hernandez continue to amaze and delight with their wonderful art and stories featuring some of the best female characters-Jaime's Maggie and Gilbert's Luba-to ever appear in comics, alternative or not.

• 25th Anniversary of
The Rocketeer

Dave Stevens' retro character, The Rocketeer, first appeared in the pages of Pacific Comics Presents in 1982. Known for his lushly rendered art, this 1930s based series was an amalgamation of Stevens' interests: aircraft and flying, movie serials, and, most importantly, Bette Page. Stevens knockout drawings of Page helped catapult her back into the public eye. The Rocketeer went on to become a great Disney film in 1991 and has left a lasting effect with comics and pop culture fans everywhere.

• 25th Anniversary of Grendel

Matt Wagner's anti-hero was first published by Comico in 1982 and moved to Dark Horse in the early 90s. The Grendel story has included two crossovers with Batman (another character Wagner is intimately familiar with), and numerous mini-series with collaborators such as Tim Sale, the Pander Brothers and Greg Rucka, who wrote a Grendel prose novel.